Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Esther McVey and Richard Burden(11 years, 7 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Esther McVey)
As of today, of the 1,100 Remploy staff who have come forward for help, 351 are in work and about the same number are in training. We are working closely with former Remploy staff to ensure that we get this as good as possible. I will also say that when the previous Government closed 29 factories in 2008, absolutely no support or monitoring was put in place, something that this Government have done and got right.
Richard Burden (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab)
T8. The Secretary of State and his ministerial colleagues have taken a number of questions on Atos and the work capability assessment, and I think that many people listening to these proceedings would consider their answers relaxed to the point of complacency. Does he recognise that people who have intermittent, real problems with working—people with brain damage and with mental health problems—are not being served properly by the work capability assessment? Does he recognise that this is a problem, or not? If he does, what, in practice, is he going to do about it?
Regional Growth Fund
Debate between Esther McVey and Richard Burden(13 years, 1 month ago)
Westminster HallRead Full debate Read Hansard Text
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Esther McVey
That is indeed vital. When we talk in the House and our words are taken down in Hansard and when people look at it on the internet, people must not just hear doom and gloom, because in reality many positive things are happening and they are coming from private industry.
Esther McVey
I will give way first to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Northfield (Richard Burden).
Richard Burden
The hon. Lady has said that she hopes that the Government will learn as they go along about how to deliver the RGF more effectively. Why does she believe that there have been delays? I am sure that businesses in her area are complaining about that quite a lot. There have been many delays in delivering money already promised. Why does she think that is?
Esther McVey
Let me correct that. I do not think that the RGF will be delivered more effectively, but that it will change along the way, as small and medium-sized enterprises link together and put in bids for £1 million. Everybody knows—I was slightly startled by some Members’ comments about this—that due diligence must be done and that money must be targeted at the right people. That is what people in business do—full stop. These things take some time.